boulle

[ bool ]

/ bul /

noun (often initial capital letter) Furniture.

Words nearby boulle

boulevard, boulevardier, bouleversement, boulez, boulimia, boulle, boulogne, boulogne billancourt, boulogne-billancourt, boult, boulter

Also called boulle·work

[bool-wurk] /ˈbulˌwɜrk/.

Definition for boulle (2 of 2)

buhl

or boule, boulle

[ bool ]

/ bul /

noun (often initial capital letter)

elaborate inlaid work of woods, metals, tortoiseshell, ivory, etc.

Origin of buhl

1815–25; from Germanized form of French boulle or boule, named after A. C. Boulle or Boule (1642–1732), French cabinetmaker

Also called buhl·work

[bool-wurk] /ˈbulˌwɜrk/, boulework, boullework.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for boulle

There are many really magnificent pieces of Boulle, and several marbles brought back from Italy.
Memoirs of the Duchesse de Dino v.1/3, 1831-1835|Dorothy Duchesse de Dino
Buhl, or Boulle, is inlaid work with tortoise-shell or metals in arabesques or cartouches.
The Old Furniture Book|N. Hudson Moore
When there are only two slices of material the technical term for them is Boulle and Counter.
Intarsia and Marquetry|F. Hamilton Jackson
In later Boulle, called new Boulle, the tortoiseshell is reddened by colour, or by gilding laid under it.
British Manufacturing Industries|L. Arnoux

The materials principally in use, however, in Boulle marquetry are tortoiseshell and brass.
British Manufacturing Industries|L. Arnoux

British Dictionary definitions for boulle (1 of 2)

boulle

boule or buhl

/ (buːl) /

adjective

denoting or relating to a type of marquetry of patterned inlays of brass and tortoiseshell, occasionally with other metals such as pewter, much used on French furniture from the 17th century

noun

Also called: boullework something ornamented with such marquetry

Word Origin for boulle

C18: named after André Charles Boulle (1642–1732), French cabinet-maker

British Dictionary definitions for boulle (2 of 2)

buhl

/ (buːl) /

adjective, noun

the usual US spelling of boulle

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012